Talk of contact tracing apps to tackle COVID-19 serves to highlight the difficult balance between using data to personalise services and robust data protection. Whether your organisation is involved in building these solutions or not, Craig Suckling of IAG Loyalty suggests there are four principles to keep you on the right side of your customers.

In this edition, Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham talks to DataIQ about the consultations and guidelines the ICO has been running, and Peter Jackson discusses his job as group director of data sciences for the L&G group. Plus Jane Pierce of Autism Forward.

As chief data and analytics officer (CDAO), Alan Jacobson is responsible for driving data initiatives and accelerating digital business transformation for the company’s global customer base. He spoke to DataIQ about the way data and analytics are changing as a practice and how they change the way organisations operate.

In this edition, Cathy Pendleton, senior data governance manager at Compare the Market, talks to DataIQ about how to make the protection of data an enabler of new business processes and why this is proving to be an attractive new career option in the industry. Plus diversity at Hastings Direct and KPMG.

The problem with stereotypes is that they linger. There isn’t an informed individual on the planet who would argue that STEM industries (science, technology, engineering and maths) ought to be male-dominated, and yet, these sectors remain imbalanced towards male representation. This is partly down to the aforementioned stereotype that these sectors ought to be “man’s work”.

The Confederation of Laboratories for Artificial Intelligence Research in Europe (CLAIRE), a research network was set up to facilitate collaboration between European labs. Toni Sekinah spoke to Professor Holger Hoos about Europe’s competitive advantage in AI, and how the network can help mitigate the negative effects of AI.

Data scientists are highly sought-after, with demand for specialist data skills increasing over 230%, but they spend too much time on mundane tasks like data preparation. Using automated ETL could free them up for value-adding tasks, as Adverity’s Alexander Igelsböck explains.

Small businesses and start-up can get in on the AI action that may seem to be the domain of the tech giants. This was the view of DataJavelin’s Philip Rooney who made this claim to a room full of entrepreneurs and small business owners at a workshop. Toni Sekinah reports.

Marketplace for driving data, wejo, is connecting those that have it with those who need it. The company states that by joining up supply and demand, it is helping to save lives, reduce congestion and emissions, and create a better all-round driving experience. Toni Sekinah hears from wejo’s Steve Pimblett.

Cathy O’Neil is the author of the seminal book Weapons of Math Destruction, a book detailing how algorithms can deliver and amplify negative outcomes to the most vulnerable people in society. In a presentation at Teradata Universe, she talked about the concept of an ethical matrix and how these could objectively assess the positive and negative impact of algorithms on their stakeholders.